Sometimes
by IdrianWatzon
Summary: Sometimes, ramen is tasty. Sometimes, ramen is rewarding. And sometimes, ramen is even romantic.


**Sometimes**

Sometimes a person finds it difficult to express their personal emotions, and sometimes a person is too overly expressive. Sometimes someone is too rough, or too soft, or angry, or loud, or quiet. Sometimes people who are similar become enemies, and sometimes those who are different become friends. A word that happens merely on occasion, yet sometimes can last a lifetime.

Closing her eyes, Hinata took in a breath of air, enjoying the momentary silence. Her children, her students, had been released for a short recess and were out running through the grounds of the tiny academy. Thankfully, Hinata had been given a short break for the entirety of the fifteen minutes.

It wasn't that she didn't adore her students, but it helped to occasionally take a rest from watching them. They were more of a handful than many would imagine, especially at the tender ages of seven and eight.

Blowing at her bangs, Hinata sunk low into her seat and shuffled carelessly through the many papers on her desk. Most were tiny assignments in which she'd told the children to practice their writing, but a few of the rare sheets found were helpful to her own progress as a teacher. In order for her to gain the appropriate title as instructor, she had many forms to fill out and many more reports to give.

Currently, she was merely acting as a stand-in for a pregnant instructor, though nearly three months had already passed since the woman had taken her leave. Hinata wasn't complaining, however, as it gave her the delightful chance to be around the children, and to learn the reality of becoming an educator.

Sorting through a particularly large pile of papers, Hinata smiled faintly at the unpracticed writing skills and numbers. The kids were still learning, of course, so it was natural to see a sentence full of mistakes or multiple words spelled wrong.

Hinata admired them for their achievement thus far. It was miraculous to watch little children grow up and learn to be adults. That was the one reason she had decided to become a teacher.

When she herself had been a young girl, Hinata had been quiet and unnoticed. She had since grown out of her peculiar habits, such as poking her pointer fingers against one another, and she had since learned to stop her stuttering.

Now, she was a young woman of twenty, a rather accomplished Kunoichi, and the first heir to the Hyuuga household.

The sliding door to the left of the room opened, revealing one of Hinata's louder students, Katsu. He was a tiny boy, with a fiery attitude and a knack for not doing his work.

Now, for some reason, he seemed less boisterous and more uncertain.

"Yes?" she began with a delicate voice as she stopped her paper shuffling.

"Can I sit in here?" the boy asked, inching into the room slowly.

"Of course," Hinata smiled, hoping to make him feel more welcome.

She adored him like she did the rest of her students, but he always seemed to grab her attention more often than the others. At first, she believed it was merely because of how attention-starved he acted. But after a time, Hinata realized it was a little beyond that.

Katsu reminded her of another boy she knew, though he wasn't really a boy anymore.

Uzumaki Naruto, Hinata's longtime classmate and crush. Back in her younger years, Hinata had felt oddly connected to him. Now, she realized, her feelings had developed into an emotion she believed was closer to love than she'd ever known before.

"Is there anything wrong, Katsu-kun?" she asked the boy once he had seated himself in his assigned spot.

He shook his head.

Smiling once more, Hinata turned back to her work. She didn't want to pressure him into saying anything he didn't want to, and she certainly didn't want him to grow quieter than he was acting.

"Hinata-sensei?" the boy started, staring right at her with determined blue eyes. The shade was a little darker than Naruto's were, but Hinata found them strangely similar.

"Yes?"

"I . . ." he stopped, knitting his eyebrows in thought. He opened his mouth again, "Can you help me?"

"Of course, Katsu-kun, what would you like me to do?"

He fumbled with his fingers and bit his bottom lip. Hinata waited.

"I . . . I really, really, really like Mitsuki, and . . ."

For a moment, Hinata was caught off guard. She had never been in a situation where anyone would tell her about their feelings for another person. But, regaining her surprise, she slid from her chair and walked towards the shaking boy.

"And what, Katsu-kun?" she prodded, careful so not to scare him away.

"I really like her, but I think she likes someone else . . . She never talks to me," he stopped. "I think she hates me."

Hinata's heart lurched. She knew the feeling, and she knew how pathetic she had believed herself to be for liking someone who could never like her in return. Giving the boy her most genuine smile, Hinata knelt by him and brought him into a hug.

"It's okay. Mitsuki might not like you as much as you want, but you can certainly continue to like her in return," she murmured, her cheek pressed to his. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with liking her, alright? Believe what _you_ want to believe, not what others want you to believe."

He sniffled, "Okay."

Hinata pulled back, stroked his hair gently, and returned to her desk just as the rest of her students began to pile in. Class returned to normal, but the entire time she couldn't help but understand the awkward boy near the center of the room.

The end of the day brought silent relief as Hinata waited for everyone to leave in search of their parents. She watched Katsu with a motherly eye, wanting nothing more than for him to find happiness. He was loud and outgoing, but when it all came down to it, he had the biggest heart of all. He was more like Naruto than she'd ever believed him to be.

Grabbing her bag from beneath her desk, Hinata locked up the classroom and began to head home. She knew how difficult it was to express personal issues to another. She herself had always kept her thoughts bottled up for no one to hear. But to see such bravery by an eight-year-old boy . . . Even if it was to the teacher, not the girl . . . That had been – still was – remarkable.

Slowing her pace, Hinata sniffed the familiar scent of her favorite place, Ichiraku's Ramen. She hadn't meant for her favorite smell to be that of ramen, or for her favorite food to become pork ramen with extra noodles. She certainly didn't mean for her stops at the place to become habit.

But sometimes, when she passed the tiny stand on her way home, she couldn't help herself. The smell completely irresistible, the taste lingering on the edge of her tongue, and the possibility of encountering her favorite person in the world simply gave Hinata reason enough to grab a bowl for her supper.

Taking a seat in her self-proclaimed spot by the end of the counter, Hinata ordered her usual without pause. She waited patiently for the meal to be prepared, her mouth practically watering. She hadn't realized how hungry she was.

Given her fresh bowl, Hinata bowed her head, broke her chopsticks, and slurped a few noodles as noiselessly as she could.

"Oi, Hinata-chan!"

The voice came from directly beside her, the volume nearly causing her to choke in surprise. Wiping the edge of her mouth, Hinata turned to face the one person she had been unable to stop thinking about all day.

With his golden hair, shining eyes, and a giant grin stretching from ear to ear, Naruto simply took her breath away. Swallowing, Hinata returned his grin with her kindest smile.

"H-hello, Naruto-kun."

Darn it, her stutter had returned. Feeling her cheeks redden, Hinata faced her ramen shamefully. Naruto didn't seem to notice her blunder, instead taking the stool beside her and calling out for two pork ramen and a miso.

"How're you, Hinata-chan?" he asked her, causing her blush to darken.

"I'm f-fine. And you, Naruto-kun?"

"Great!" he pumped his fist excitedly, "I've been doing paperwork for Tsunade-baachan all day, but that means I'm closer to being Hokage!"

"That's w-wonderful," Hinata giggled at his excitement.

Naruto's first bowl arrived then, and he began to inhale the soup and noodles. Hinata returned to her own bowl, sipping carefully so not to make any noise.

Naruto's first bowl was done just as his second bowl was given. He consumed in no time at all, stopping briefly for breaths. Hinata found herself staring.

He glanced at her, "Hm?"

Startled at being caught watching, Hinata bit her lip and turned away, her cheeks heating again.

"What is it, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked curiously, poking her shoulder with a finger.

Hinata shivered, thinking back to earlier in the day with Katsu. She understood the boy's feelings, how he liked a girl but she liked someone else. It was the same for her. She liked Naruto – probably even loved him by this point – but he only had eyes for Sakura. It was sad and it broke her heart simply thinking about it, but it was the truth.

She was merely a friend and nothing more, if he even considered her to be that close.

"N-nothing," she mumbled, playing with her noodles as a hopeful distraction. He leaned in closer, his shoulder touching hers as he tried to gain a closer view of her face.

"You sure?"

Hinata nodded dumbly, unable to talk.

He frowned, but returned to his meal.

They ate on in silence, Naruto starting on his third bowl, Hinata finally at her halfway point.

"Hey, Hinata-chan, how's school?" Naruto burst out with a full mouth.

She nervously laughed, "It's wonderful. I love being around all of the kids. They're so interesting, very fun to teach." She was surprised she didn't stutter once during the explanation.

"Wow, you must love it there," Naruto commented, seeming to notice her passionate answer as well. Hinata's blush darkened.

"I do."

"That's what I like about you," he continued, motioning towards his nearly finished ramen. "You go for what you want, and you know what you want."

The compliment caught her off guard, but Hinata found herself brimming with pride.

"I hope you get the full job," he finished, giving her a genuinely warm smile. It was one Hinata only ever saw on rare occasion, certainly never directed in her way, but a rare smile that gave off his true feelings and not the over-hyperactivity his usual grin showed.

They sat in comfortable peace as Hinata finished and gave Naruto the leftovers.

Walking away from the stand, Hinata listened happily as Naruto described in full detail how his day had gone. The story was drawn out, no doubt overly told, but exciting.

"So, I guess this is goodbye, huh?" he rubbed the back of his head eagerly, a half-smirk covering his face.

She nodded, "It was fun. I r-really enjoyed talking with you, Naruto-kun."

"Same here, Hinata-chan."

Suddenly, without warning herself or him, Hinata stood forward and pressed her lips against his cheek, drawing back with cherry cheeks and a giddy beam. She felt proud of herself for taking the action, for trying to be the one with the attention.

Naruto's eyes widened at her, before he returned the beam with one of his own.

"We should eat together again, okay, Hinata-chan?"

Floating above the clouds, Hinata realized that it was alright to sometimes do something out of character. It was alright to sometimes believe that maybe, over time, she might have a chance with the one she knew she loved. Maybe it would become one of those things that happen only sometimes, where two total opposites end up together forever.

She figured that sometimes was sometimes a good thing.


End file.
